CRICKET
Narine under suspicion
West Indian spinner Sunil Narine has again been reported for a suspect bowling action, the latest being at the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL) competition in the United Arab Emirates. The off-spinner, whose career has been blighted by the issue, was reported twice during the Champions League Twenty20 in 2014 and twice more the following year. “Sunil Narine has been reported for a suspected illegal bowling action during match between Lahore Qalandars and Quetta Gladiators at Sharjah,” PSL organizers said in on Twitter. “Narine has now been placed on the warning list and may continue to be selected to play and bowl for his team.”
RUNNING
Champions win tower race
The Eiffel Tower was transformed into a sparkling vertical racecourse on Thursday night, as athletes dashed to the top of the iconic Paris monument in an annual race. Puffing, yet in good spirits, 129 runners from five continents made their way, one-by-one, up 1,665 steps to see who could reach the apex of the 324m structure in the fastest time. Piotr Lobodzinski of Poland, who has been the men’s champion since the vertical race first began in 2015, successfully defended his title, reaching the tower’s summit in 7 minutes, 56.67 seconds. In the women’s category, Suzy Walsham of Australia also gained her fourth victory, getting to the top in 10 minutes, 2.7 seconds.
SOCCER
West Ham security beefed up
Extra police are to be employed at West Ham United’s next home game following crowd trouble at their last Premier League match, London Stadium’s Safety Advisory Group (SAG) announced on Thursday following an emergency meeting. Four pitch invasions marred West Ham’s 3-0 home defeat by Burnley on Saturday and the SAG warned that future trouble could lead to ground closures. “Following reassurances that have been given, it is the SAG’s view that the council does not need to use the ultimate sanction, which would see capacity reduced at the venue and spectators excluded. The remaining homes games will be closely monitored,” the SAG said in a statement. “The SAG must make clear that in the event of future disorder, it would seriously consider advising the certifying authority to take forward this sanction.” West Ham’s co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold had to leave the directors’ box for their own safety and the club are seeking life bans for the supporters who ran on to the pitch.
MOTOR SPORTS
Bee attack hospitalizes Foyt
Four-time Indianapolis 500 winner A.J. Foyt was briefly hospitalized on Wednesday after an attack of Africanized killer bees he encountered while working on his ranch. The attack was the second time the 83-year-old has disturbed beehives while working on his bulldozer. He sustained more than 200 stings to his head alone in a 2005 bee attack. A.J. Foyt Enterprises said in a statement that Foyt was released from a Texas hospital once he was stabilized. The team said this second bee attack was more serious than the first because the first encounter made Foyt more sensitive to bee stings. Foyt is to miss this weekend’s Twelve Hours of Sebring in Florida. He was scheduled to be inducted into Sebring’s Hall of Fame yesterday.
Nottingham Forest FC are to go into the Europa League play-off round after a 4-0 win over Ferencvaros TC on Thursday, while Celtic FC secured their place in the knockout phase with a victory over FC Utrecht. Aston Villa FC finished second in the league phase after recovering from two goals down to beat FC Red Bull Salzburg 3-2 with their spot in the last 16 already assured. Forest stood an outside chance of climbing into the top eight going into the final round of matches, but needed to beat Robbie Keane’s Ferencvaros and rely on other results going their way. Sean Dyche’s
HEATED RIVALRY: The pair had met 14 times previously, with Sabalenka winning eight of the encounters and entering the final as the favorite to take the title Elena Rybakina took revenge over world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka to win a nail-biting Australian Open final yesterday and clinch her second Grand Slam title. The big-serving Kazakh fifth seed held her nerve to pull through 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne in 2 hours, 18 minutes. It was payback after the Belarusian Sabalenka won the 2023 final between two of the hardest hitters in women’s tennis. The ice-cool Rybakina, 26, who was born in Moscow, adds her Melbourne triumph to her Wimbledon win in 2022. It was more disappointment in a major final for Sabalenka, who won the US Open
Denver superstar Nikola Jokic returned from a 16-game injury absence to post a 31-point, 12-rebound double-double on Friday and propel the Nuggets to a 122-109 NBA victory over the Los Angeles Clippers. Three-time NBA Most Valuable Player Jokic had not played since suffering a bone bruise in the left knee he hyperextended in a game against Miami on Dec. 29 last year. The Serbian big man did not miss a beat. He led all scorers, connecting on eight of 11 shots from the field, and also handed out five assists with three steals while playing just 24 minutes, 32 seconds as the
BATTERED AND BRUISED: Alcaraz suffered a cramp in the third set, but was allowed treatment despite Zverev’s protests, and continued on to win in five-and-a-half hours An ailing Carlos Alcaraz battled past Alexander Zverev yesterday in five epic sets to reach his first Australian Open final and move within a match of becoming the youngest man to complete a career Grand Slam. The world No. 1 outlasted the German third seed 6-4, 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (3/7), 6-7 (4/7), 7-5 over a titanic 5 hours, 27 minutes in hot conditions to head to tomorrow’s title match. He only narrowly avoided crashing out after a huge fright at 4-4 in the third set when he pulled up in pain with what appeared to be cramp. He was allowed to have treatment
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